organizing and collective bargaining in EPZs By Anton Marcus - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

By Anton Marcus Joint Secretary Free Trade Zones & General Services Employees Union

FTZ&GSEU experience of

• rganizing and

collective bargaining in EPZs

 Inception of the free trade Zones  Growth of FTZs / EPZs Our Union strategy on organizing Zonal workers Formation of Free Trade Zone workers Union  Free Trade Zones with unions  Present achievements with campaigns  Researches conducted by the union at present Current campaigns Free Trade zones at Glance In 2016  Conti. Zones at Glance

Inception of the free trade Zones

• Started at 1978 Under the UNP Government

at Katunayake

• Joint Consultation Committees
• Greater Colombo economic Commission
• Local Foreign Collaborations
• Free from unions & Electrocute fence
• Expand to Biyagama & Koggalla
• Formed the Industrial Transport & General

workers union

• Polytex strike ( 1st Garment factory strike in

1981)

Growth of FTZs / EPZs

• All island as a free trade zone & 1992

Declaration

• 300 Garment factory project
• FTZs / EPZs / IPZs
• Abolish the JCC and introduced the

Employees Councils

• Repressive conditions in the Zonal

Workers

Our Union strategy on

• rganizing Zonal workers
• Formation of the Joint Committee of

the Employees Council

• Expand the Joint Committee into the

Joint association of the Employees Council

• Intervention of the labor disputes in the

zone

• International Solidarity action
• Intervention in the Presidential election

in 1991

• Enactment of ID act of No 56 of 1999

Formation of Free Trade Zone workers Union (Year2000)

• Land mark case of Jaqalanka on FOA
• Complain to the EU GSP on labor rights

violation

• Complain to ILO on labor rights

violations

• Granting of EU GSP with a road map
• Extension of GSP + benefits
• Global unions intervention on GSP +

and US GSP

Free Trade Zones with unions

• Unions with CBA
• Unions with Memorandum of

settlements

• Unions with MOU
• Unions struggling for recognitions

Present achievements with campaigns

• Tripartite Mechanism for FTZs
• Right to access to the Zones & setting up of

facilitation centers

• Compelled the government to withdrew the so

called Private Sector Pension Fund Bill

• Published a book on the experience on the

struggle against the pension fund bill and produced the Doc. Film on same

• Salary campaign and minimum wage for private

sector

Researches conducted by the union at present

• Research to calculate the Living Wage

for the apparel sector

• Research on Work Wear suppliers to

Europe

• Research on Sports Wear for Olympic

2012

• Research on health conditions of the

zonal workers

• Research of gender discrimination

Current campaigns

• G.S.P Campaign
• Campaign against precious work
• Counter campaign to employers’

campaign of union mafia

Free Trade zones at Glance In 2016

• 13 Zones in Island wide
• 134956 Employees
• 266 Enterprises
• 70 % are female workers
• Majority of them are migrants from far

villages

• Conti. Zones at Glance
• No Employees Councils 109
• No Enterprises negotiate with unions
• 32
• No of Enterprises given check off 18
• No of CBA 06
• No of 12 (1) Agreements 13
• ( Based on BOI statistics )